Zachary Levi Will Play DCEU Shazam

November 7th, 2017

The DCEU has been growing at a rapid pace. We've met aliens, Amazonian warriors and even New Gods. Now, the time has come to explore the franchise's mystical side through Shazam!, directed by David F. Sandberg. The film –– which tells the story of Billy Batson as he gets powers from the gods to become Shazam, an all-powerful hero –– has been coming together quite nicely, but as it usually happens with blockbusters like this one, there's very little we know about the story or characters.

One thing that fans have been dying to know is who'll be in charge of bringing the Big Cheese to life. Numerous names have been thrown around for the past few months, but nothing had been official ... until now, that is. Rejoice, fellow geeks, because we finally know who'll wield the power of the gods to defend the universe from baddies:

Zachary Levi Is Officially Boarding The DCEU As Shazam

Zachary Levi in 'Chuck' [Credit: Warner Bros. Television]

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Zachary Levi (Tangled, Chuck) has been cast as Shazam, Billy Batson's adult counterpart. Levi beat strong contenders for the role. According to THR, other actors in consideration were John Cena and Jake McDorman.

Shortly after the announcement, Levi himself took to Instagram to share his excitement for his casting, teasing fans about his upcoming grueling workout routine to get in top Shazam-shape:

As mentioned, there were quite a few names publicly thrown around for Shazam prior to this announcement, but Levi never came up. That's an impressive achievement in the spoiler-obsessed culture we live in today. Being honest, Levi never crossed my mind when thinking about the hero, but now that he's been cast, I'm really excited to see what he can do with the character. He looks the part, and he has the charming lightheartedness to faithfully translate Billy Batson's innocent nature.

On a side note, Levi is yet another actor who's gotten the best of both worlds by being involved with Marvel and Dc. The actor replaced Josh Dallas in the role of Fandral, one of Thor's best friends, in Thor: The Dark World and Ragnarok.

[Credit: DC Comics]

There was no word on Billy Batson's casting, but with Levi already onboard, I don't think it'll be too long until we learn who'll play the character.

I've been a massive Shazam fan for a long time, and Levi's casting made me even more excited to watch the hero's solo adventure.